It's Complicated
by Get Keen
Summary: When the Class of 1-A return from a less than desirable future, they are appalled to see that it seems Number One Hero Deku didn't make it with them. Moving ahead with their plans regardless, Ground Zero (our beloved hothead, Bakugou Katsuki) discovers that Deku had in fact travelled back with them as planned. He just...has a couple more (disembodied) hands this time around is all.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a while since Aizawa Shouta had seen something that truly disturbed him. He was a pro-hero, an underground one no less, and his job description entailed the exposure to several 'disturbing' things that not even some of his fellow heroes would see in their lifetimes. As such, he considered himself rather hard to bother.

Which was why, when he saw the first thing in decades that could be classified under his 'really, _really_ weirded out' list, the fact that it came from his class of aspiring young heroes was all the more cause for concern. He had been sitting with his back against the wall of the outside training area, up to his neck in his distinctive, yellow sleeping bag and with one tired, although still watchful, eye on the kids. They had been in the heat of their regular sparring matches, raining blow after quirk-charged blow on each other when they had all just – _stopped. _

There was no 'winding down' motion to their adrenaline-charged actions. It was just, one moment they had been flitting across the training grounds, and then the next they were just _still. _Aizawa himself froze, not knowing what to do. It was eerie, the class full of statues (with the exception of Midoriya, for some reason, whose head was whipping around as he gaped at his peers in alarm) and he was just about to deduce it to be a villain attack, when the students jolted abruptly into action again; although they did not return to sparring.

Instead, they were staring at their hands, their uniforms, at _each other_ with a relieved awe shining in their eyes, their mouths fallen open in what was clear shock. It was Bakugou who broke the hush with a screech of triumph, "We fucking _did it!_"

Like the phrase was a battle cry, the entire class broke into whoops of laughter and exclamations of joy, tears inexplicably streaming from some happy faces as they embraced each other like comrades returned from a war. Aizawa was absolutely baffled and so he slipped away to find a fellow faculty member to witness this spectacle and assure him that he had not, in fact, gone insane.

Entirely oblivious to their instructor's departure, the teens continued to celebrate their unknown victory, before collapsing to the floor with relief, beaming at each other unreservedly and some still chuckling. Poor Midoriya was left watching over them nervously, entirely at a loss as to his class' sudden bizarre change in behaviour.

Uravity noticed his hesitation, and so she sprang up from the floor and drew him into an emotional hug that left him red-faced and breathless, "We _made it _Deku! I can't believe you pulled it off!" She pulled back and grinned at him brightly, admiration that she didn't try to hide painted all over her face.

"W-what?" he could only breathe in return, prompting a theatrical sigh from Ground Zero. He too got up and stomped over to the duo where, to Midoriya's absolute _alarm_, he slung an arm over his shoulder casually and addressed him as well, "Stop trying to act so fucking humble Deku. If it weren't for you figuring out how that kid's quirk worked, none of us would even _be_ here!"

Midoriya repeated what the blonde had said to himself, muttering under his breath as he tried to infer any meaning from what he had just been told by his fellow students. He could hear Uraraka speaking loudly in the background, seemingly addressing everyone present, and tried to drag himself away from his thoughts. He tuned in just in time to hear, "We have a second chance! We can prevent it all! I almost can't believe it myself," she held a hand to her head as she let out a giddy chuckle that reinforced her statement before quickly sobering, "But we have to get started immediately." A round of solemn nods expressed the group's agreement.

"Deku," he squeaked when she looked back at him with a fierceness in her eyes that he had never seen before, "tell us what you have in mind."

With all those expectant eyes on him, looking at him with an insurmountable trust that he had not yet earned, all poor Izuku could do was utter a statement that had his audience's mouths go dry and made all present hearts sink into their respective stomachs.

"I – I don't know what's going on."

* * *

A distance away, pro-hero Deku awoke with a jolt. Checking his surroundings, he sagged in relief and let out a heady chuckle at the fact that _no_, he wasn't in the middle of a warzone with one reassuring hand on the kid who was about to send his entire graduating class back in time. Instead he was safe. Sure, he was in a dark, shuttered room that he did not recognise, on a dusty bed that he had never slept in, but he was _safe_ (and this fact assured him that, more importantly, his friends were safe too).

Deku fell back onto the bed, laughing quietly as the sheer joy he felt at the chance to change their awful, horrible future made him feel suddenly boneless. As such, it took him a few moments to deduce that something was not entirely _right_ with his situation. His sharp mind already grinding its gears into action, he sat up again and took in his surroundings carefully. He had certainly not been within these particular four walls in his life before, as he had marked earlier. Even less familiar was the large television in the corner of the room with an expensive gaming console sat at its feet, as well as the shuttered windows that stubbornly refused to let the light of day into the small space.

Successfully bewildered, Deku got to his feet only to be thrown off by the unfamiliar centre of gravity that threatened to introduce his face to the polished floorboards. He chose, instead, to sit down on the bed again and stared hard at the black jeans that covered too long legs. An equally black hoodie spilled into his lap where his hands were resting between his thighs, utterly devoid of the map-like pattern of scars they were supposed to have been decorated with, even when he had been merely a UA student.

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Deku grabbed a strand of his hair (with two fingers. _Only_) and tugged it into his field of vision. Instead of the springy, forest green curls he should have been expecting, he was grasping a limp, blue-grey strand between his slender forefinger and thumb. There was a panic that was starting to rise in his mind that he stomped down on firmly, even as he knew for certain that something had certainly gone quite wrong in spite of the near-flawless execution of his plan, and he got up from the bed swiftly, losing his balance once more in the process.

As he stormed over to the full-length mirror he had seen in his initial sweep of the room, the number-one hero was made painfully aware of how foreign his body was. He had been regrettably short as a teenager and, when his growth spurt had finally hit with a vengeance, his build had finally seemed to catch up with his muscle mass. He was not a particularly tall adult, but he was broad thanks to his decades of strict training. The point of the matter was, he had _never _been this lean, and this (which no one would have ever described him as, at _any _point of his life) lanky, which was certainly how he would describe the body he was currently occupying as his long legs carried him across the room in three strides.

Deku still gasped, although he had begun to suspect exactly _whose_ body he had been shoved into thanks to Class A's jaunt to the past, when he saw his reflection. The light hair he had noticed moments ago framed a pale face that was in dire need of some moisturiser, cracked lips forming an aghast 'o' as their owner gaped at his reflection. Crimson eyes that he knew far too intimately than he would ever have liked to gazed back at Deku, sharp and clearer than he had ever seen them. There was no hint of the broken mind behind them, perhaps as now that mind was simply_ not there_, and the bloody irises displayed instead a spark of the intelligence that existed in its stead. Deku shivered, seeing Shigaraki Tomura's eyes like that was somehow even more terrifying.

Taking a deep breath and attempting to stop his new fingers from where they had begun to twitch with his agitation, Deku let his mind work. He resisted the urge to pull a worried hand down his face (he was still not sure _exactly _whether Shigaraki's quirk worked on himself, but he was not particularly keen to find out using this particular method) as his thoughts whirred away. The fact that he was here was proof that the young boy's quirk had worked; which meant that all of his classmates, in some form or another, were back in the past with him. The thought made a smile light up his drawn face briefly before it fell back into a contemplative frown. Were they all in different bodies? Did some of them actually end up in the correct destination? Was _he _the only one who had ended up as he did? If so, why?

He groaned, wincing at the pain the action brought his throat and wondered how he had not noticed it earlier. So many questions and not enough answers; or even _theories. _Still, there was one upside to his situation.

He was in _Shigaraki Tomura's _body. The successor of All for One and the scourge of the future the heroes had returned from. Deku had been placed in a position that was almost too good to be true to in order to successfully carry out their intentions. One of, if not _the_, biggest threats had already been eliminated. He couldn't help a hysterical giggle that escaped his scratchy throat. Maybe someone, somewhere was finally willing to give the 'problem child' a bit of a break. Goodness knows he certainly deserved it.

Deku nodded decisively and collected himself before he gripped the doorknob with the _intention _of opening the door. When it instead dissolved away, leaving him clutching at knob-shaped air, the pro-hero wanted to kick himself. First order of business: get a set of those artist gloves that covered only the little finger; thereafter, he could start his own reconnaissance of UA in order to find out just how many of his peers _were _indeed 'themselves'; all the while maintaining his "Shigaraki" cover with the League of Villains in such a way so as not to raise suspicion from any of them, All for One included. Oh, also, he had to get in contact with comrades while, in all the ways that mattered, _being _Shigaraki Tomura – the person that they would be the last to trust and the first to eliminate.

_Piece of cake,_ Deku thought sarcastically, the sneer that tugged at his upper lip making him look sufficiently Shigaraki-ish to kick open the now handle-less door, _time to get started. _He immediately came face-to-mist-obscured face with what was a clearly disapproving Kurogiri, who had a fist raised that suggested he had been about to knock on the door when it had nearly brained him for his efforts.

He looked at the missing doorknob first, before his gaze moved pointedly to Shigaraki's exposed hands (missing the nervous sweat that had broken out at the young man's temples). His voice expressed his annoyance, "_Again_, master Tomura?" 


	2. Chapter 2

Bakugou Katsuki had not handled their trip to the past very well once he had discovered that the number one hero had apparently not made it back with them; which had to be _bullshit_ because he had been the one closest to the kid whose Quirk had delivered them here so nicely. He'd had his hand on the boy's _shoulder_ for fuck's sake!

Regardless, he wasn't so willing to give up on Deku that easily. With their luck, the nerd was probably running around in his _actual_ adult body instead of having been deposited into his younger form, like the rest of his peers had been. Unfortunately, they had a timeline to stick to if their plans were going to work out, which meant that (in spite of his agitation to get out and _find _that shitty Deku) pro-hero Ground Zero was sitting in an uncomfortable chair, restrained up to his neck, while the useless members of the League of Villains crowed about their successfully kidnapping him (again).

Bakugou hadn't seen any of the big players as yet, but he couldn't remember the fine details of how it had played out the first time as it had been over a _decade _ago, after all. He wasn't overly concerned, however. They were aiming to recruit him, and so there was no doubt that Scar-face, Blood-kink and that _damned _Shigaraki would make their entrance sometime soon.

The volatile blonde was not disappointed as, almost as if summoned by his train of thought, the trio waltzed into the room. Two pairs of crimson eyes narrowed as they glared into the other's soul. _Speak of the devil, _was the immediate, appropriate thought that wafted into Ground Zero's mind as he eyed the lanky villain's approach.

With a lazy hand, Shigaraki waved the lesser flunkies out of the room, gaining no protests as they scurried away at the command. The blonde-bunned girl was tugging on a sweater sleeve gleefully as she watched the light-haired young man continue to approach their captive, Dabi not far behind him.

The moment Shigaraki leaned his face into Bakugou's space, the restrained boy hocked a gob of spit at him (which he managed to dodge, much to the hero's chagrin). He raised a slender finger as if to discipline a child, "Now now, Katsuki. Where did those famous manners of yours disappear to?"

Bakugou snorted and sneered at the villain, "You clearly haven't done your homework if you expected me to thank you for your hospitality, fuckface." Shigaraki paused for a moment, as if taken aback (not that Bakugou could _see _whether that was the case with that creepy-as-fuck hand plastered to his face) and the pro-hero allowed himself a smug inward grin at the thought of catching the boy who would become their worst enemy off guard.

But then the teenager threw his head back and _laughed_. It was one of such surprised, _genuine _amusement that Bakugou could not help the cold fingers of fear that had begun to creep up his spine at the sound. After fighting the man for so long, he thought he would be able to anticipate everything that he threw at him. But _this_, this was so contrary to the character he had known that it sent shivers through his chest. He knew from experience that a Shigaraki who could surprise you, was a Shigaraki that could end you just as effectively. Although, looking at the other two occupants of the bare room, he could see that even _Toga _seemed vaguely disturbed by the display too, which made him feel a little better.

Again, even as he was chuckling hoarsely, Shigaraki waved a dismissive hand at his companions who, only after hesitating slightly (and receiving a glare that was very disconcerting when paired with amused wheezing for their efforts) vacated the room with very little pomp and circumstance. The blue-haired boy watched them go, red eyes on the closed door for an unnecessarily long period of time before he finally returned them to Bakugou's seated frame once more.

Only increasing his wariness, Shigaraki pulled up another chair and sat down on it casually, facing Bakugou on his level as he spoke, "We have no curious little eavesdroppers out there now, Katsuki. So, how's about you and me have a good, private talk."

Bakugou was about to spit a response that was vehemently in the negative when he was distracted by a small flinch from the boy opposite him; who raised a hand to his face as he waited for the reply (to scratch his nose, perhaps?) only for it to collide with the disembodied hand that was already residing there. It was all the blonde boy could do to stop his jaw from falling open as he saw Shigaraki desperately tug the appendage from where it was clasped onto his cheeks and throw it a good distance away from the pair in disgust. The teen then shuddered and began to thoroughly scrub his face with four fingers of each of his own hands.

Then, as if remembering he had an audience, he lifted his head sheepishly (sheepishly!) and gave Bakugou a self-deprecating smile, "Eheh, sorry about that. No matter how much I wear it, that damn hand never stops creeping me out."

At the sight of kind eyes, a genuine smile and surprisingly well-nourished skin that looked so inherently wrong on the face of the teenager that was _supposed to be_ some kind of evil incarnate sitting before him, Bakugou felt something in his mind click. In his astonished state, his thoughts were actually pretty rational – which was probably a coping mechanism, now that he thought about it – and there was only one conclusion he could make.

"So, this is where you've been, Deku," he allowed a conspiratorial smile to creep up on his lips even as he stared at the man who was _certainly _not Shigaraki. Not surprised in the slightest at his oldest friend's capacity for accurate deduction, the pro-hero in disguise could only return the smirk in satisfaction.

"Let's chat, Kacchan."

* * *

"Fuck Deku, you've been _busy._" Katsuki wished he could say that he was surprised when he had heard that his reconciled childhood friend had somehow managed to actually _befriend _the villains that belonged to the League he was now inadvertently heading up. _This, _he thought as he dragged a hand down his weary face in exasperation. _This would royally fuck up the original plans. _But, he had been wondering why the two higher-ranking villains that Deku had sent out of the room last had seemed so hesitant to leave. At first he had thought it was because they hadn't wanted to miss out on the action but now, Katsuki realised with disbelief, that it was because they were _concerned _for the little shit.

"I think that's where we went wrong in the first place Kacchan," Deku's (he refused to refer to the hero as _Shigaraki_) voice was as raspy as he remembered it, but there were slightly bloodied bandages around his thin neck that the explosive blonde had not noticed before. He tuned back in to where the man was rambling on about their revised plans in light of new developments, "I think we were the worst type of hypocrites the first time around. 'We tried to save everyone', we said. But we didn't, not really. There was one, important group of very hurt, very broken people that we didn't even consider _worth _saving."

"The villains" Bakugou breathed and Izuku awarded him with a sad smile, his eyes refusing to well up with tears that he had no doubt shed for this exact topic a number of times before, knowing the nerd.

_"Exactly," _he paused, "But this time, we _have _to Kacchan. We have to save them." His vermillion eyes burned with a familiar passion and determination that hinted at his natural leadership abilities, "At risk of sounding horribly cliché; if we save them, we save the future."

After only a moment of hesitation, Bakugou gave him the answer he had silently asked for.

"Fuck it. I'm in, Grabby Hands." He granted his friend a feral smile which Deku returned wryly, "That was very uninspired for you," here he paused before his face twisted into a horrifying grin that actually didn't look out of place on Tomura Shigaraki's face as he hissed, "_Kacchan."_

Katsuki blinked before standing up so forcefully that he knocked his chair over. He planted an accusing finger directly into Deku's borrowed chest and growled, "_Never _do that again, shitty Deku." And Izuku burst out laughing again, the pure sound making the knot that had coiled in Bakugou's stomach at that one word untwist as he breathed a relieved chuckle of his own, "I guess you've had to put your acting skills to use, huh?"

Deku dismissed the sentiment with a wave of his hand, as it seemed he was wont to do lately, "It started that way, but I've been slowly transitioning into a character easier for me to maintain. It's working so far."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow as if to say 'clearly' before his features settled into a more familiar frown as he thought about his immediate fate, "So what now, Deku?"

Sensing the change in his friend's demeanour, Izuku stood up and gestured for him to follow. They approached the door, Deku resting three fingers of his right hand on the handle as he turned back to address his friend, "Well, Ground Zero," this earned a smug smirk, "I think we should introduce the League of Villains to its newest member, hm?"

It didn't take long for Bakugou to infer the usefulness this role would lend him, and indeed all the heroes that had come back for the future. As a 'double agent' he would be able to relay information and the like to Deku as he pleased, and vice versa. Heck, they would probably even be able to coordinate field work together as well.

His smirk grew and he pounded a fist into his other hand as he gave one, curt nod of agreement to the number one hero, currently disguised as a sickly, teenaged villain. Izuku returned the gesture with a nod of his own and moved to open the door, but a throat-clear from Katsuki stopped him. He threw him a questioning glance only for his gaze to be redirected by a pointed finger that had been thrown out in the direction of where 'father' still lay discarded on the floor on the other side of the holding area.

He groaned aloud and pretended not to hear Katsuki's maniacal cackling as he went to retrieve the offending appendage.


End file.
